With the new ice hockey arena in Milan and the new ice rink in Cortina finished just in time, the 25th Winter Olympics can begin. Cortina d’Ampezzo is hosting the Games for the second time; the town previously hosted the entire Winter Olympics in 1956.
Key dates and venues
The Games officially open on February 6 at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium (San Siro) in Milan, which holds about 75,000 spectators. Competitions start two days earlier, on February 4, with curling. The Games close on February 22 with a ceremony at the Verona Arena, an amphitheater east of Milan with capacity around 12,000.
About 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries will compete for 116 gold, silver and bronze medals; about 47% of competitors are women. Germany is sending a record delegation of 188 athletes.
New sport and event locations
Ski mountaineering debuts as an Olympic sport. Races use circular courses: athletes ascend with climbing skins attached to their skis and remove them to ski down. Events are spread across northern Italy: ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating and short track are in Milan; women’s alpine skiing, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton and curling are in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Other sites include Antholz (biathlon), Livigno (freestyle skiing and snowboarding), and Bormio and Val di Fiemme (men’s alpine skiing and ski mountaineering). Distances across venues are significant—Milan to Antholz is about 350 km (217 miles).
Russian and Belarusian athletes
As with the 2024 Paris Games, athletes from Russia and Belarus may compete only as individuals cleared as “neutral”: they must have no ties to the military or security services, must not have publicly supported Russia’s war in Ukraine, and must have qualified on sporting grounds. A three-member IOC review panel grants final permission. As of January 29, 2026, the IOC expected 13 Russian and seven Belarusian winter athletes to participate. In December, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the exclusion of neutral Russian and Belarusian skiers from Olympic qualification. At the 2022 Beijing Games, 216 Russian athletes competed under a neutral flag because of state-sponsored doping findings.
Security
Security responsibility lies with the host country’s authorities, working with participating delegations. Reports indicate around 6,000 police and security personnel will be deployed for Milan-Cortina. The US is sending Homeland Security Investigations officers in an advisory and intelligence capacity to assist US guests; they will not perform patrols or enforcement. The announcement of any US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence drew attention and some tension in Italy.
Doping controls
The International Testing Authority (ITA) has been commissioned by the IOC to carry out most doping tests, as in Beijing 2022. Pre-Olympic testing began in October, and roughly 3,000 tests are planned during the Games. For the first time, baggage checks at airports aim to seize suspicious substances. However, the international federations for skiing, biathlon, ice hockey and curling are conducting their own controls rather than cooperating with the ITA. Urine and blood samples will be stored up to ten years to allow re-analysis with future methods. The Court of Arbitration for Sport will have an office on site to handle doping cases swiftly.
Tickets, atmosphere and finances
By early November 2025, organizers reported more than half of tickets sold. Prices range from about €30 to €2,900 for premium seats at the Verona closing ceremony; hospitality packages for high-demand events such as alpine skiing can cost thousands, with some packages around €3,500 including extras like brunch. Organizers say the budget for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina is roughly €1.6 billion. For comparison, official figures for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games cited costs around €3.3 billion, while an Oxford University study estimated the real cost at more than €7 billion.
Overall success will depend on logistics, security, atmosphere in venues, and final financial results.